250 West 57th Street Lobby Ceiling Project

When Anthony Malkin, the chairman and chief executive officer of Empire State Realty Trust, set out to renovate the 537,839-square-foot office building at 250 West 57th Street last year, he wanted a lobby that would attract higher-paying tenants.

“I did not want to do another white lobby, I didn’t want to do another black lobby,” Malkin told Commercial Observer. “I didn’t want plants or a water feature. We wanted to do something that had never been done. And we didn’t want to have one big piece of art. We wanted something special, unique—something that is alive.”